


Imprint

by zaffre



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Android Rights, Android!Cas, Androids, Anna Milton (mentioned) - Freeform, Colonization, Dead John Winchester and Mary Winchester, Friendship, Happy Ending, Identity Issues, Karen Singer Lives, Kidnapping, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Mars, Maternal Karen Singer, Memory Loss, Mystery, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Original Male Character(s) - Freeform, Original Non-Binary Character - Freeform, Parental Bobby Singer, Pre-Relationship, Science Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Sort Of, Surprises, Swearing, an interstellar riff off of SPN episode 2x09 Croatoan, anti-android bigotry, bending of science, but it's definitely headed that way, discussions of mortality and immortality, human!dean, please don't come after me for not sciencing properly, politician!sam, science fiction movie references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-25 15:21:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30091128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zaffre/pseuds/zaffre
Summary: Dean is sent on a rescue mission to the first Martian colony after all communication abruptly ceases. The rescue team arrives to find all the humans missing and numerous destroyed androids, but one intact android mysteriously isolated from the rest. Can Dean trust the android or is he responsible for the disappearance of all of the colonists?
Relationships: Castiel & Dean Winchester
Comments: 19
Kudos: 31
Collections: Dean/Cas Reverse Bang 2021





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Holy Hannah, I did not think this fic was going to turn out the way it did, but I’m so happy about it. At first it was barely 6k, but then I spent a long time talking things out with my beta and in two days it grew to almost 16k. I probably could have added a bit more, to be perfectly honest, but deadlines and such.
> 
> This is my first DeanCas Reverse Bang as an author and wowza, did I luck out with the art I got to write for. The moment I saw [marsajar](https://marsajar.tumblr.com)’s masterpiece, I absolutely fell in love. And then I was lucky enough to get to write for her art, and I think I probably spent an entire week so freaking excited I could hardly stand it. Thank you so so much, marsajar, for not only making your gorgeous art in the first place, but also for all the time you spent discussing plot ideas with me, as well as the time you spent reviewing the first draft of this fic. You were the best partner, and I’m beyond thrilled with our collaboration. (ADDED NOTE) HOLY SHIT, marsajar just surprised me with TWO more pieces. I seriously lost it in the chat when she uploaded them. I definitely probably freaked out my neighbor with all the yelling I did. If I ever needed someone to illustrate my life, I would want it to be marsajar. Go check out her [tumblr](https://marsajar.tumblr.com)!! 
> 
> Many many thanks also to my beta, Alethea. You pulled off a miracle, and I am so glad you aren’t afraid of telling things as they are. I feel like I grew a ton as a writer with this fic and that’s all thanks to you. And I definitely need to declare that any typos are mine because I added some more after the last chance that they had to look at it. I’m sure I’ll be spending the next week reading and rereading this fic so that I can discover them all.
> 
> And of course, thank you to the beautiful mods, diamond, superhoney, and Aceriee, who run this challenge. This was a huge bright spot for me in the last 12 months, and you all totally rock.
> 
> An additional note: there is one thing I did not tag for because it would spoil the ending. If you are concerned about it, please feel free to email me at zaffrefic@gmail.com for more information. I can say that it’s nothing even approaching the major archive warnings, and I’m probably being overly cautious about things, but I’m a firm believer in tagging the heck out of stuff to keep everyone as safe and happy as possible.

Dean finds the android an hour after they’ve landed at Arcadia.

It’s the only intact one he’s come across so far. The vaguely humanoid-shaped metal in amongst all the broken glass was the rescue crew’s first sight when the ramp from the shuttle had lowered. The pictures from orbit had looked bad, but seeing it in person was another thing.

But that hadn’t been the most noticeable thing about the Arcadia colony. No, it was the complete lack of people that had gotten under Dean’s skin the most. Empty streets, empty buildings, no noise but the rescue team’s footsteps and hushed chatter, and even that muffled by their hazard suits. It looked nothing like the videos of the bustling colony Dean and everyone else on Earth had been captivated by day after day.

They’d first searched the communication hub, the source of the automated distress call that one week ago had sounded off for exactly four minutes and twenty two seconds before falling silent again. No other communication had come from Arcadia since then, no response to numerous messages sent from Earth. 

But like the walk from the rescue shuttle to the hub, there was no sign of life. Not even a hastily-scribbled note to explain. Just more broken building materials, a few smashed computers, and the twisted metal of another destroyed android.

They’d split up from there, Tanaka sending Okoro and Gupta off to do their scientific thing while she and Benally looked through some of the buildings for more clues. Dean was left behind with Annette to take apart the android remains.

Most androids are built fairly tough to handle basic falls or other accidents. They rarely need much more than software patches and routine maintenance. Of course, sometimes they were in crashes or fell from heights outside their warranties, and in those cases, more extensive repair was necessary. But that was rare, as the durability of most androids was a point of pride for manufacturers, especially given the propensity for anti-android violence and vandalism.

The ones that had been sent to Mars were top of the line, their exoskeletons made especially durable given that colony life was inherently more challenging than Earth life. Dean had made sure of their strength himself, since he’d been on the team responsible for their design and construction. For this reason, to see one ripped in half, like the one on the floor of the communication hub, had been surprising and a bit devastating. What could do that kind of damage to his androids? Dean had tried to recover the memory unit, but it was unsalvageable, fused completely to the other circuitry of the head.

It was the same case for all of the other androids he’d come across. Limbs ripped off, faces smashed in, the carnage was absolute. And in every case, the memory unit was destroyed or completely missing. He’d had Annette do a sweep to see if they had been separated from the frames and were somewhere nearby, but she’d reported no results.

Confused, Dean had headed toward the engineering complex, half listening to the chatter from the rest of the team as they discussed radiation level results and their search progress. Maybe the colonists had recovered the missing memory units to analyze them for some reason, or maybe to transfer to the spare androids. But Dean only found more silence and empty rooms. The spots where the spare androids should have been were vacant. 

A slight shiver had run its way up Dean’s back at that sight. He’d been keeping a count in his head of the number of android remains they’d come across so far, and they were short by a lot. Maybe they were in the other living units.

“Winchester to team. You see any more androids around?” he’d asked into his suit’s radio.

“There’s one in the med bay,” Gupta had replied. “It’s like the others, though. And Okoro found two in the science lab, mostly dissolved by acid or something. There was some old dried up blood next to them.”

Benally had piped up, “We’ve swept all of the living quarters and there aren’t any in there.” 

Still short, then. Dean had made a note to check the ones in the med bay and science lab for memory units, but suspects they’ll be empty, too.

“Rendezvous back at the ship in twenty,” Tanaka had commanded. “We need to debrief and decide on our next course of action.”

“Roger that,” Dean had replied. “I’m going to check the hangar and then I’ll head back. Winchester out.”

A dim light under a backroom door had caught Dean’s eye as soon as he entered the hangar. There had been no power in any of the other buildings they’d passed, so he was intrigued. Maybe it was from a small backup generator. Maybe there was someone inside, hunkered down and awaiting rescue.

He’d quickly made his way around all of the rovers and escape pods, pausing for a moment to count and confirm that none were missing.

The door had been jammed shut. He’d pulled on for a solid minute before admitting defeat and calling Annette over to apply her superior strength. It had still taken considerable effort on her part, and while she worked on the door, Dean once again wondered at what kind of force could shred androids and jam doors shut.

Once the door was open enough for him to squeeze both himself and his suit through, he’d been finally able to determine the source of the light.

There weren’t any colonists inside. Instead, the only being inside was an android, intact this time, suspended from a diagnostic repair rig. The light shone down from above him, illuminating the hair on the top of his head in such a manner it appeared that he had a halo. He’s topless, his bottom covered in the standard second skin neoprene pants all of the Mars android units wore, his feet unexpectedly bare.

Dean stands in front of the rig for a long moment, just looking at the android. He doesn’t appear damaged in any way, and a quick check of the display attached to the rig confirms that he is fully operational, just awaiting a reboot. Dean presses the sequence to begin the process and watches as the android slowly comes back to life.

The android’s eyes open after a beat and blink several times before focusing on Dean. He can tell the moment his memory engages because a confused look comes over the android’s face.

“Why are you wearing that suit? Has some kind of contagion been released?”

“That’s what I’m here to find out,” answers Dean. “What’s your name?”

There’s a long pause, longer than Dean thinks it should take, and then the android says, “Castiel.”

A strange name for an android, but who is Dean to judge a person’s name, let alone his fellow engineer’s preferences. After all, he’d named one of his first constructs Bonham. “I’m Dean. If you are ready, I can get you down from there.”

Castiel cocks his head to the side and a moment later says, “I believe I am fine.”

Dean frowns. Usually an android would say something like “I am operating optimally” after a system scan. Had someone been tinkering with his androids, upgrading them since setting up shop here on Arcadia?

Dean instructs the rig to release Castiel, and watches as the connecting tubes and other diagnostic equipment detach from Castiel’s artificial skin. The final support bar doesn’t unhitch until the entire rig lowers the android to the platform. Dean steps forward and offers Castiel a hand to help him step down from the platform, despite it being mostly unnecessary. Androids have a better sense of balance than humans, and despite Bobby laughing at him every time he’d done it, it had always seemed like an appropriate courtesy.

“Thank you,” says Castiel, taking Dean’s hand as he steps down. “How long have I been here?”

Again, Dean’s brain is tripped up by the oddly direct way this android is addressing his situation. “You don’t know?”

Castiel cocks his head again, and Dean realizes this must be a tick to indicate he is searching his memory banks. Kind of an advanced behavior to program into an android, but Dean has seen behavior like it before in the more expensive models. People liked to forget that their androids were non-human sometimes.

“No, I don’t. It appears that my memory is incomplete, though I don’t know why.”

“Okay well, let’s get you back to the ship and I can see if I can recover it. Follow me.”


	2. Chapter 2

Annette is standing at attention just outside the open doorway. 

“Hello,” greets Castiel. 

“Hello,” responds Annette monotonically. 

Dean motions. “Come on, we need to get back to the ship and report in.”

Castiel gives Annette a considering look, then follows Dean out of the hangar.

They come across a smashed up android on the way back and Castiel stops next to it, an expression of shock on his face.

“What happened?”

Dean shrugs. “Not sure yet. And none of them have intact memory units. Hopefully you can help us, provided we can restore your memory.”

Castiel doesn’t stop at any of the other android wrecks on the way back, but Dean does catch him looking back at them many times, a troubled expression on his face. 

They go through decontamination and Dean takes both Annette and Castiel to his lab to wait while he goes through the debriefing.

He’s the last one to arrive, and Gupta is already walking through the results of her scans. Tanaka shoots him an annoyed look as he sits down.

“And as you can see, there are no detectable contagions, so we can go without our suits from now on.”

“What if it’s an undetectable contagion?” asks Benally.

Okoro rolls their eyes. “Then the decontamination process probably didn’t get rid of it and we’re all dead.

Benally just crosses his arms and glares.

“Also,” continues Gupta, “There are no traces of recent biological matter in any of the spaces we tested.”

“Meaning?” asks Tanaka.

Gupta points at the screen. “It looks like whatever happened to the colonists, it happened when they sent out the distress call and they haven’t been back since.”

Tanaka nods. “Okay, that matches up with what we found in the living quarters, which was nothing. The strange thing is that it doesn’t look like they packed up to leave or anything. Just one minute they were here and then the next they weren’t. Any hypotheses?”

“None of the escape pods are gone,” says Dean. “But it seems like a bunch of androids are missing. I did find one intact unit in the hangar, but his memory is damaged.”

Benally looks over his shoulder at Dean. “What about the messed up ones all around town? What did that to them?”

Dean shakes his head. “Not sure yet.”

“Could be another android, though, right? One that went bad?” Benally points out.

“That’s pretty unlikely. There’s never been a corruption case before, and these androids are the most advanced to exist.”

Benally huffs. “Doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen, though. What else would be strong enough to do that kind of damage? My vote is for rogue android.”

Dean can feel his frustration rising. “Like I said, that’s extremely unlikely. And even if there was some kind of corruption, then the safeties would kick in and deactivate the android.”

“Oh, and you can personally guarantee that?” asks Benally snarkily. 

Tanaka puts a hand up and Benally settles for the moment. “The intact android you found, you said its memory was damaged?”

“Yeah, at least that’s what the unit reported to me,” says Dean.

“Your top priority is to restore its memory so it can tell us what happened,” directs Tanaka. “In the meantime, the rest of us need to go over the computer logs we recovered from the main computer frame to see if they have anything useful and also begin searching the surrounding area. It’s possible that the colonists were forced to find refuge elsewhere.”

Okoro looks thoughtful. “They could have used the terraforming equipment to escape if they couldn’t get to the escape pods. We didn’t see any of those machines near the science section.”

Tanaka presses her finger onto her chin. “Alright, then you and Benally take the crawler out to look. Gupta and I will work on the logs. Understood? Dismissed.”

\--

“What are you doing?”

Dean looks up from his scanner. Castiel had been preoccupied with examining the spare parts in his workshop when Dean had come back from the briefing and had barely acknowledged his presence. Now he’s standing next to Dean, well within his personal space. Dean takes a slight step backwards before he answers. 

“Checking Annette here to make sure she’s charging okay. It was a pretty bumpy descent and Tanaka didn’t give me any time to do a systems check after we landed. I mean, I get it - it was priority one to make contact with the colonists again, but she couldn’t even give me five minutes to see if Annette was all good.”

“Who is Tanaka?”

“The captain of this rescue mission. I don’t know her very well, I was sort of a last-minute addition to the crew, but she was a major part of the moon missions a decade or so ago, so she’s pretty experienced with space travel.”

“Who are the other people comprising the crew?”

“Well, there’s five of us, six if you count Annette, which I do. Uh, besides Tanaka, there’s Alli Okoro, our doctor, Zara Gupta, our science expert, Chris Benally, our pilot, and then me, the engineer. Guess they wanted to cover all their bases for whatever we might find here.”

“Where is ‘here’?”

“Wow, you sure are an inquisitive little guy.” Cas doesn’t say anything at that, just continues looking at Dean intently, so Dean adds, “We’re on Mars, the Arcadia Planitia region to be more specific. It’s the northern part of the planet. NASA picked this location for a colony because there was a good chance of finding water here or nearby.”

“And is there water here or nearby?”

Dean shakes his head. “Before the colonists went radio-silent, they hadn’t found any. Fortunately, they had water generators, so that wasn’t an issue.”

“When you revived me and we traveled back to your ship, there was no one but us around. And you said earlier that Tanaka was the captain of a rescue mission and you were attempting to make contact with the colonists again. Therefore, something happened to the colonists, something possibly bad given the state of the other androids.”

“That’s right,” says Dean, noting the odd tone of upset in Castiel’s voice, like he was frustrated for being kept in the dark about what was going on. “The colony stopped communicating with Earth about a week ago, so we’re here to figure out why and where everyone went.”

“Not everyone is missing, however.”

Dean frowns. “What do you mean?”

“There were fourteen offline androids between the location you revived me at and this ship.”

“Oh, right. I haven't been able to do a complete sweep of the entire colony yet, but there’s at least another dozen in the buildings themselves. Still shy of the fifty total that were sent to the colony, so that’s concerning.”

“Do you believe the missing androids are with the colonists?”

Dean shrugs. “Maybe. Okoro and Benally are heading out to do a sweep of the area around the colony. Hopefully we’ll know more soon.”

Castiel’s intense gaze moves over to Annette. 

“What does ‘charging’ mean?”

Dean is thrown for a second, not by the sudden change in topic, because androids are fairly well-known for making quick conversational leaps, but because of the question itself. “Uh, it’s how you and Annette keep juiced up. Your memory must be really messed up if you’ve forgotten charging.”

Cas looks at Annette for another moment and then turns back to Dean. “Do I need to charge?”

“Nah, you were probably charging while you were on the rig I got you down from. But let’s check your systems to make sure. I don’t think a low battery is the cause of your memory issues, but can’t hurt to be sure. Come on.”

Cas follows Dean over to his rig. It’s a much smaller version than the one Dean found Cas on, by necessity, since every pound of equipment had to be carefully accounted for on a shuttle in order to ensure they had enough fuel to escape Earth’s gravitational pull. The colonists had had the benefit of dozens of shuttles to bring supplies to set up camp, so weight limits hadn’t been as much of an issue for them and transporting a full rig could be justified.

Dean grabs the dangling plug-in cord from the rig and approaches Cas, who flinches slightly and takes several steps away. Dean takes a step back himself, dropping the cord and raising his hands in a gesture meant to show no threat. Internally, his brain is going a mile a minute, confusion warring with concern. He’s never known an android to experience fear of being plugged in. But he’s also worried about Castiel’s reaction, and doesn’t want to do something that will upset him any further.

“Hey, it’s okay. That’s just a cord to connect to your systems, nothing more. It goes in a connection port at the top of your spine. Here, let me show you.” Dean reaches back, grabs the cord and then turns slightly away from Castiel, bringing the cord to the top of his own spine in demonstration. “It won’t hurt or anything, I promise. It’s just a diagnostic tool.”

Castiel eyes the cord distrustfully for a moment, then looks back at Dean. “I don’t want to be stuck again.”

“Stuck again? What does that mean?”

Castiel looks down at the deckplate and frowns. “I’m...I’m not sure.”

“Okay, well, I don’t know what that’s all about, but I’m gonna be here the whole time you are plugged in, so if you start to feel uncomfortable about anything, we can unplug you right away.”

Castiel looks back up at Dean, piercing gaze unwavering. “You will remain the entire time?”

“Yeah. Promise.”

Castiel looks at him a moment more, then slowly approaches, turning his back to Dean. Dean gently touches the patch of artificial skin covering the port and carefully inserts the plug. Castiel’s shoulder is tense where Dean holds it, but then relaxes slightly when Castiel turns back around.

Dean gives him a small smile and then starts his scans.

\--

Two hours later and Dean is ready for a beer.

There’s nothing to indicate Castiel’s memory is corrupt or damaged. Dean’s half-way convinced at this point that some kind of cosmic radiation has scrambled Castiel’s brain, but his team back on Earth had taken every precaution to ensure that wouldn’t be an issue. They’d subjected the mission androids to all kinds of conditions they might experience in colony life and on the trip over to Mars, and none of them had developed memory problems.

He’s saved from further frustration by a visit from Tanaka.

“Any updates?”

Dean shakes his head. “Nope. Can’t seem to find any reason why Castiel isn’t able to access his memories.”

Tanaka lets out a dissatisfied noise and then steps close to Castiel, her eyes narrowed. “Is it still able to function properly otherwise?”

“Yeah, his systems are completely fine and he’s at full charge.”

“Then I want it and your other android assisting Okoro and Benally with the sweep of the surrounding area. They located the missing terraform equipment two kilometers away, but besides some footprints, there isn’t any further sign of the colonists.”

Dean is reluctant to send an unprepared Castiel off to be verbally-abused by Benally, so he gestures toward Annette instead. “I think maybe it would be better if we sent Annette on her own. I’m still not sure why Castiel is having memory problems, and it would be a pain to have to haul him all the way back here if he locked up for some reason.”

Tanaka considers his suggestion for a moment, then nods. “Send your other android, then. And make sure it gets out there quickly. There’s only a few hours of daylight left.”

“You and Gupta find anything?” Dean asks.

“Three months of logs and reports are a lot of data to sift through. NASA’s hypothesis about the communication array going down prior to the distress call is so far proving false. We can’t find any indication that there was a problem with it at all. And it clearly wasn’t damaged when we inspected it this morning.”

Dean hums in agreement, then waits for a moment to see if Tanaka will continue that thought. She’s still looking at Cas with a troubled expression, her eyes still slightly narrowed.

“I want you to find out what’s wrong with this android’s memory. Take it apart if you have to. It must know something.”

“Yes, captain,” Dean says, trying to sound compliant.

Tanaka exits his workshop and once the door has shut behind her, Dean lets out a sigh, then goes over to Annette.

“Annette?”

Her eyes open. “Yes, Dean?”

“What is your charge status?”

“I am eighty-nine percent charged. My current approximate battery life under normal operating conditions is five days, two hours, nineteen minutes, and thirty-seven seconds.”

“Please disengage from the charging station.”

Annette steps off of the pad and looks expectantly at Dean.

He pulls a spare tool pack from the supply cabinet and hands it to her. “Your next assignment is to meet up with Benally and Okoro and assist them in any way they require.”

“I have locked onto the transmitter signals of crewmen Benally and crewperson Okoro,” Annette relays as she puts on the pack. “It will take me approximately twenty minutes to reach their location.”

“Good. Be safe.”

“Of course, Dean.”

He watches Annette depart, then turns back to find Castiel watching him again in that intense manner he has.

“What?” Dean asks, a little snappier than he’d meant to

“Why do you treat me and Annette so differently from Tanaka?”

“Hmm?”

“You don’t call me or her ‘it’. You also address us directly, as if we were more than mere tools.”

“Well, you’re not an it and you’re not just tools. At least, not to me.”

“Why not?”

“I grew up around androids, so I guess I just developed a different sense of them than a lot of people. That, and I probably spend more time with you guys than humans most days, so it’s hard not to get attached.”

The diagnostic Dean had been running on Castiel’s processing system pings. They keep staring at one another for a beat, and then Dean walks over to the panel. 

“Well, everything’s working like it should be. Weird. Guess you’re just a mystery, buddy,” says Dean, carefully unhooking him from the rig. He places a hand on Castiel’s shoulder. “But that’s okay. I like mysteries.”

  
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

“Good grief, Dean, think you could have made these things any more dense?”

Dean finishes hefting his end of the android wreck he’s carrying onto the sled with a grunt. “Well, considering that gravity here is like a third of what it is on Earth, they are actually much lighter than what they were when I was building them.”

With a laugh, Gupta slaps him on the back. “You’re forgetting that we’ve only got about 20 percent oxygen to help us out.”

“Doesn’t it all work out in the wash, then?”

“I don’t know about that. Whichever asshole calculated that it would be okay not to bump up oxygen levels planetwide to at least 21 percent because the reduced gravity would make exertion less taxing was not taking into account deadlifting android exoskeletons.” She gestures toward another wreck next to the mess hall. “We need that one, too?”

Dean shakes his head. “That one is pretty pulverized. With these three and the one Annette is retrieving from hydroponics we should have plenty for me to look through.”

“Good, we can take a break then. Never thought I’d be sweating my ass off on Mars one day, but then again, who ever knows where life will lead.” Gupta plops down onto the ground next to the trolley, a small cloud of dust poofing up around her.

Wiping the sweat off of his forehead with his shirtsleeve, Dean joins her on the ground. “Can’t say I ever saw myself here, either.”

Gupta pulls the water bottle from her belt and takes a swig. “You fancy NASA mechanics don’t tend to get off-planet much, do you?”

“Nah. In fact, if it wasn’t for the fact that I personally built half of the androids on this mission, I doubt I would have even been considered. Just lucky, I guess.”

“If it weren’t for the circumstances, I would really be quite excited about being here.” Gupta sets her waterbottle down and tucks her knees into her chest, her arms coming around to hold them close. “I mean, we’re on fucking Mars. If that isn’t a mindfuck, I don’t know what is.”

Dean grins for a moment, then turns somber. He’d definitely felt a thrill of excitement when he’d been given the order to join the rescue crew. But Gupta was right - this wasn’t a vacation.

“Of course, we’re basically investigating the interstellar equivalent of Roanoke colony right now, so that’s kinda disturbing.” Gupta drops her chin down onto the top of her knees. “These empty buildings kinda freak me out. Good thing I don’t believe in ghosts, because otherwise I’d be insisting we move the shuttle to the other side of the planet.”

“What, you don’t think ghosts could follow you across the planet?” Dean teases.

Gupta shoots him a wry look. “Come on, everyone knows ghost movement potential is limited to the location they died in.”

Dean swallows, then asks hesitantly, as if afraid voicing the thought will give it power, “You don’t think they’re dead, do you?”

Gupta’s voice is quiet. “No, but I don’t have any proof of that. Just a gut feeling.”

“Yeah, me too. Or maybe that’s just hope talking.”

“You know, when the Apollo missions were happening, there was a fear that if one of the astronauts ever died in orbit or on the moon, that we’d never venture off-planet again.” Gupta shifts, letting go of her knees. “And now here we are, all the way to Mars, and I can’t help but wonder if that might not apply here, too.”

“You think we’d abandon the colony idea?”

“Maybe. Humans can be a little fickle sometimes. Not that that’s a bad thing, mind you, just the way we are.”

“Hey, thought you were a exoplanet expert, not a philosopher.”

Gupta playfully shoves Dean. “A girl can dabble.”

They go quiet for a moment. Then Gupta pipes up again. “You don’t think it was the androids, do you? Of all of us, you’ve got the most experience with them. I mean, I’ve worked with a few here and there, and I’ve only had positive experiences. I can’t imagine them hurting a human. But a human hurting an android, now that I’ve seen too many times. Could the colonists have done that to them?” she asks, nodding her head back at the wrecked androids on the sled behind them.

“I really don’t think it’s them, and that’s my professional opinion, by the way. Like you said, I’ve worked with them since I was a kid, and I’ve never known an android to harm a human intentionally before. And my non-professional opinion is the same.” Dean runs a hand down his face. “But I also don’t have any idea why anyone would destroy the colony androids in the first place. There weren’t any AD movement sympathizers on the mission, and besides, it’s not like destroying them would have been advantageous to them in any way. The androids were responsible for constructing all of the buildings, never mind the fact that they all contained the consciousnesses of scientists, too. It would be stupid to get rid of all of that knowledge to settle a grudge.”

“Huh. Wonder if this will be just like Roanoke and we’ll never know what really happened,” Gupta muses. “It’ll be taught to some poor kids in middle school or some shit as the ‘Mystery of Mars’.”   
  


Dean shrugs, but before he can respond, a sudden scraping sound from behind them has both of them jumping up and turning around quickly. 

When they see the source of the noise, Gupta huffs a laugh. “Oh, it’s just Annette. Jesus, nearly had a heart attack there. Should we bring the sled her way? Looks like the unit she grabbed is pretty tall and lanky.”

“Uh, yeah,” responds Dean, trying to get his own heart rate under control. He hadn’t realized how accustomed to the stifling silence of the colony he’d gotten. For a moment, he’d had visions of a villainous being carrying a blood-stained metal weapon bearing down on them, ready to off them like it had offed the colonists. Wow, he’d watched too many scary sci-fi movies on the trip over if that was his first instinct.

Gupta grabs her water bottle, reattaches it to her belt, then grabs the handle alongside Dean and pushes it towards Annette’s laden-down form. Dean snorts at the dust on her backside, then remembers he’s in a similar state and quickly brushes his pants off.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” adds Gupta. “But yesterday Benally ran one of the terraforming tractors he found into a boulder. It’s going to need repairs before noon today so that he can take it past the ridge to continue the search.”

Dean groans.

\--

After spending another two hours on the surface fixing Benally’s mess, Dean finally gets back to his workshop on the shuttle and begins the autopsies of the destroyed androids.

Castiel watches in silence as Dean, with Annette assisting, carefully takes each android apart and makes notes on the damage. 

“Left occipital cavity mostly intact, though some impact damage on the outer edge. Right occipital cavity completely destroyed,” Dean relays to the log as he carefully removes what is left of the faceplate. “Oh, shit. I recognize this unit now, this was Kirk. Handsome dude, definitely fit both of his namesakes.”

“How did you choose that name?” asks Castiel, stepping closer.

“Well, there was this great guitarist in the 1980s called Kirk Hammett. And there was also a pretty important TV show in the 60s that featured a Captain Kirk. So I figured I might as well get a two for one deal.”

“Why did you name this android? Do androids not come with names already?”

Dean puts down the tool he was using to prod the electronics of Kirk’s face. “Well, some do and some don’t.”

Castiel cocks his head. “Explain.”

“So, take Annette,” Dean begins, nodding toward the android on the other side of the table. “She’s what we engineers call a blank canvas. Meaning, she is mostly an AI, with a few general memories added on from various sources. You, on the other hand, are known as an imprint, a record of a once-living person, just the one. Some people consider you to be basically a consciousness.”

Castiel doesn’t say anything, so Dean continues.

“We sent forty imprinted androids to the colony because a lot of you had scientific knowledge or other skills that were going to be helpful to the colonists. And we also sent ten blank canvases in case something happened to one of you, or if one of the colonists needed to transfer their consciousness because they became ill or died.”

“I...am the memories of a once-living person?” Castiel says slowly. “Someone who was named Castiel?”

“Yep.”

Dean watches as Castiel looks down at the android body on the table, his expression troubled. “Then this Kirk, he was a blank canvas? Because you named him?”

“Yeah. From what I can tell,” Dean pauses for a moment, picking up a pair of tweezers and reaching into the head cavity for the microprocessor. “It doesn’t look like he was activated at all. So, he was still a blank canvas when he was killed.”

“You say ‘killed’ as if he was alive to begin with. If he was a ‘blank canvas’ as you call him, then he never had any sort of consciousness. In fact, is Annette even alive, if all she is is an AI with some memories of humans added in?”

“That, my friend, is a very good question, and one that the public has been debating for a long time, even before androids were everywhere. There’s even a bunch of science fiction from the 20th century that covers that topic.” Dean sets down the microprocessor and leans back against the table. “See, there hasn’t been just one way that androids were created, so your definition of ‘alive’ can vary.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Dean blows out a breath. “Okay, History of Androids 101. The short version of things is that at first, humans tried to create human-like consciousness without using any memories. That didn’t work so well, and we ended up with a lot of kinda vaguely creepy robots that triggered the uncanny valley in a big way. After that, we had some more involved AIs that used the social media/web interactions of a person to generate ‘thoughts’. They could sometimes answer questions correctly, sort of had opinions, and did a better job of tricking the average joe into believing they were human than the previous AIs. Of course, they still failed any rigorous test for intelligence and learning capacity.

“Then came a few companies that had the brilliant idea to preserve actual human brains for future tech integration via medical suicide. That didn’t go over too well, and some international laws were quickly passed to stop that from happening anymore. 

“Then humans got a little smarter and decided that you needed to fully understand how the human brain worked if you were ever going to create a thinking, feeling artificial version. Some scientists and engineers tried to develop computers that would be able to scan a human brain at extreme detail and create computer models that included the functionality of each brain cell. Unfortunately, that was a massive failure, mostly because the computer models couldn’t handle the massive amounts of data needed to generate a full version.

“Which eventually lead to the current form of android, which is a neural interface using collaborative nanotech that records neuronal activity and transmits it to external hardware. So, it’s like a brain scan, but instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, it works with the biology and chemistry of the human neural system. Right now, it takes about a week of recording before a viable consciousness can be created and then imprinted onto an android microprocessor.”

Castiel considers this for a moment, then asks, “So, someone named Castiel had his brain recorded prior to his death and then his knowledge was sufficiently important to merit his inclusion on this colony mission? Did you know him?”

“No, I didn’t. I mostly worked on the hardware side of things. I knew a couple of the people who were imprinting the consciousnesses, but I never actually got to meet the imprinted androids before they came here. And like you pointed out, the human Castiel is dead, as are all the people who contributed their brains to this project. Kinda cool though, that despite the fact that they were no longer flesh and blood, they still got to experience establishing a new home on another planet.”

“Until they were destroyed but an unknown entity,” says Cas, pointedly looking down at Kirk.

“True.” Dean looks down at Kirk, too, and once more tries to piece together exactly how he had been so completely destroyed. Besides the wrecked exteriors of a few buildings and the smashed computers, there hadn’t been anything resembling a weapon near any of the android bodies. Had someone or something repeatedly smashed the androids into the buildings themselves? It definitely couldn’t have been the colonists - they weren’t strong enough to destroy an android without an EMP, and even that wouldn’t account for the blunt force trauma.

“Are all humans able to imprint onto androids prior to their death?”

Dean shakes his head and looks back up at Castiel. “No, they aren’t. It’s still very expensive to build and maintain an android, and it’s also expensive to imprint a human consciousness. Right now, it’s mostly reserved for the very wealthy and the military.”

“Will you be able to imprint your consciousness in the future?” Castiel asks.

“Probably not. I’m not much of an egghead, and all of my knowledge can be picked up fairly easy by someone else with half a brain and some textbooks. Plus, I don’t expect that I’ll have enough money once I’m old and gray to purchase both an android and the imprint capability.”

Castiel frowns. “Are there other options?” 

“Sure. Some people have tried imprinting multiple consciousnesses onto one android, which has never worked. Others have stolen imprinted androids and tried to wipe their memories, which also has never worked. Androids aren’t really re-writeable, and I’m not sure they should be. And of course, there are the giant memory banks on every continent with the consciousnesses of people who had enough money to create an imprint, but didn’t have enough to buy an android to imprint to. They’re hoping that in the future androids will become cheap enough that everyone can have one.”

“So, many humans have gambled with their memories, in the hopes of one day becoming immortal?”

Dean shrugs. “I suppose you could see it that way. But no one knows yet if imprints can become degraded or if having your memories stored in a bank for long periods of time will affect the transfer process, so I guess, yeah, it’s a gamble.”

“Interesting. I suppose were I to regain access to my memories it would help me to better understand this process and the drive toward immortalizing oneself forever.”

“Yeah, humans are a bit sentimental, and we especially don’t like the idea of dying one day.”

Dean watches as Cas leaves his side and approaches Annette. He does his squinty-eye thing at her for a moment, then turns back to Dean. 

“If money was no object, would you imprint your consciousness?”

“Maybe. Though I’m not sure if living forever is really all it’s cracked up to be. Sometimes I think knowing you are going to die one day keeps you from getting too complacent.”

Cas nods. “Early you said that you grew up around androids, and that is why you treat them differently than others. Did one of your relatives imprint themselves?”

“No, none of us could afford it. In fact, my mom died when I was really young, and it pissed my dad off to no end that there was technology around that could have kept her in our lives, but that we were simply not wealthy enough to have access.” Dean thinks back to all the rants John used to go on about androids, and how it was somehow their fault that Mary wasn’t still around. John had hated androids, and Dean didn’t doubt that had his old man lived to see Dean working on androids, he would have never spoken to him again.

“Then how did you come to grow up around them?”

“Well, my dad died when I was in high school, which left me and my brother without a legal guardian. So, we got sent off to live with foster parents. Lucky for us, friends of my dad’s, Bobby and Karen, knew of our situation and applied to take care of us. They were given priority because we already knew them.”

Dean swallows, almost doesn’t continue, but the way Castiel is looking at him, like he really wants to know, gives him the courage. “But uh, Karen got real sick about a year after we started living with them. Some kind of autoimmune thing that was going to kill her within the next year. Bobby wasn’t having any of that, so he sold every single asset he had, worked every odd job he could find, read everything publicly available about androids, and then built her a body and imprint nanites. Knowing what I know now about android tech, and given that this happened about twenty years ago, I still don’t know how he did it. All I know is that the thought of losing her was unbearable to him, and he made it happen.”

“Did it work?” Castiel asks, his voice a little quieter than before, as if he can sense what this story means to Dean.

“It did, for a while. Karen lived on for another ten years before the android broke down. Bobby was dirt poor from the first attempt at making sure Karen could live on, so he couldn’t afford to make her a new body. But he still has the imprint file. Someday, I want to be able to build him a new body and send it to him so that he can try to imprint her again.”

“Is that possible? To imprint a mind more than once? Could you make an army of yourself in android bodies?”

Dean huffs a laugh. “That’s real super villain thinking there, Castiel. But yeah, it’s been done, particularly by the military. Why try turning hundreds of humans into the perfect soldier when all you need to do is find one or two people who embody all that you want the military to be and basically clone them.”

“But the thing that’s stopping you from being able to give Bobby Karen back is the cost, yes?” Castiel blinks hard when Dean nods. “Then is that why your captain is so dismissive of me and other androids? Because she cannot afford to be immortalized yet?”

Again, Dean laughs a little. “No, Tanaka is a space hero from the moon missions she led a couple decades ago. She definitely makes enough a year to afford a decent enough android and the imprint costs. It’s not always the price tag that keeps people away from androids.”

“It’s not?”

“No,” Dean pulls a stool over and sits down on it. Castiel watches him, then mimics his movements, but he grabs an extra stool and offers it to Annette. She just continues standing there, and Castiel frowns up at her until Dean just waves a hand. “Annette isn’t big on sitting, are you?”

Annette shakes her head. “I do not require sitting implements. My body is capable of standing until my battery is completely drained.”

Castiel continues frowning, and Dean grins at his consternation. “It’s ok, Castiel. No need to feel threatened by Annette’s disregard for ‘sitting implements’.”

He turns back to Dean and looks expectant. “What other reasons do humans choose for not imprinting?”

“Well, this is a little bit beyond my paygrade. It’s more of something my brother deals with, but, uh, yeah, there’s some ethical issues, environmental impact problems, and philosophical stuff surrounding androids and the idea of living forever. Like, some people think it isn’t right to prolong the human lifespan through unnatural means, other people don’t really think that androids with human consciousness are ‘people’. And of course, there are always people that are convinced that androids are going to outcompete humans for jobs and opportunities.

“But cost is definitely the main reason why there’s android hate out there.”

“And even though you will never have a chance to potentially become immortal, you harbor no hatred toward me or other androids?”

Dean thinks for a moment before he answers. “Hatred was never an option for me. I saw how happy it made Bobby to have Karen still around, and I know that Karen felt less regret about her death knowing that some or all of her brain would be around to help him through her death.”

“But your father was so angry with androids for not being available to save your mother.”

“Yeah, he was. But that was how he dealt with his grief, and I don’t agree with it.”

Castiel makes a thoughtful noise. “Then do you believe that androids are equal to humans?”

“I suppose I do. I mean, there’s the fact that people have been anthropomorphizing machines since they first existed, hell, even wooden boats before then. I think it’s sort of human nature to bond with the things that mean the most to us, so the feelings are definitely there. Add in the fact that you guys have thoughts and feelings and the capability to express them, and I don’t see why you shouldn’t be considered equal to us. That’s the stuff we do, after all.

“And,” Dean adds as a final point, “it doesn’t hurt anybody to treat others with kindness and consideration, even if their insides are circuits and gel instead of flesh and blood.”

\--

Dean completes the autopsies and learns not all that much new. He reports his results to Tanaka, and she tells him to keep working on Castiel’s memory, once more making it clear that she expects Dean to take Castiel apart to find answers.

Castiel is still in Dean’s workshop, sitting on his stool, when he comes back from Tanaka’s quarters.

“You know, you can go elsewhere in the ship if you want,” Dean points out. “Just don’t get too close to Benally. He’s not very sympathetic to androids.”

“Are you leaving again?”

Dean checks his watch. “Well, it is getting kind of late. I missed dinner and after then I’ll need to sleep.”

“What should I do, then?”

“You could chat with Annette if you wanted.”

Castiel glares at him. “She is not as stimulating as you are. I’m bored.”

Dean is a little taken aback by the petulance in Castiel’s tone. “Uh, you could access the main computer, I guess? It’s mostly science stuff, but some of it is kinda interesting. On the ride here I read up on the tech used to get the atmosphere breathable on Mars before the colonists arrived and it was pretty interesting.”

“What about Kirk?”

Dean glances over at the crate he’d put Kirk’s remains in. “I mean, if you want to check him out, that’s okay with me. Just be careful of his-”

“No,” interrupts Castiel. “I mean the ones you talked about before, the musician and the science fiction captain. I want to know more about them.”

“Oh,” says Dean with a growing smile. “Now that I can definitely help you out with.” 

  
  
  



	4. Chapter 4

The next morning finds Dean sitting in the mess hall trying not to smile into his coffee. 

It had taken almost an hour to show Castiel the movie and music collection available on his personal harddrive. He’d probably brought too much with him; after all, it wasn’t like he could have watched an entire series of Star Trek on the 5-day trip between Earth and Mars. But now he was glad he’d overdone it, because Castiel had been delighted with the options.

He’d only finally left Castiel when his stomach had protested being denied dinner loudly enough that Annette had commented on it. So, he’d reluctantly headed out, but not before adding Bladerunner (the original, not the stupid sequel from the 2010s) and I, Robot to his queue. Sure, maybe it was a little too on the nose to recommend movies about androids and robots to an android, but Castiel’s questions yesterday and Dean’s subsequent lack of thorough answers, had made him feel like he owed Castiel more information. Maybe if he watched those movies he’d have a better understanding about the historical ways humans perceived androids.

Then Dean had slept like the dead for a solid six hours. He was still trying to wake up completely, thus the coffee, before he headed back to check in on Castiel. No telling what he’d picked to watch after the movies Dean had pre-selected. 

Okoro comes into the mess hall, looking entirely too awake for Dean’s liking. They were one of those people who just woke up ready for the day. But thankfully, they didn’t try to initiate complicated conversations the moment Dean woke up, unlike certain annoying little brothers.

“Hey,” Dean offers in greeting.

“Hey yourself,” Okoro answers, heading straight for the pantry. “Late night?”

Dean grunts in answer, and Okoro smirks as they pick through the food, no doubt looking for something strawberry-flavored. 

Benally enters while they are still searching, and grabs his own cup of coffee. He pointedly sits across the room, his back to Dean. Given how small the room is, Benally’s attempt to be a dick is pretty lame. So, Dean ignores him, per usual. 

A minute later, Gupta comes in, looking as tired as Dean feels. “I got that data you asked for.”

It takes a second for Dean to remember which data she’s talking about. “Oh, thanks. You didn’t need to stay up all night, you know. It wasn’t that vital.”

She waves a hand. “I couldn’t sleep, you know how it is. Besides, it’s too quiet here. And like really creepy knowing that two hundred people who were supposed to be here aren’t and we’re just camping out in the shuttle next door to their empty houses.”

Dean nods in agreement. “You’re not wrong.”

Gupta grabs a granola bar and joins him at his table. Okoro follows a minute later with a pair of strawberry Pop-Tarts. 

“Oh, hey, I was looking through the colony’s food stores last night to see if any were missing and I found three missing water generators. They were completely ripped out of their holdings, almost so forcefully so as to be useless. It was the only thing that looked strange. All of the rest of the food was fine. Well, except for the perishable stuff from hydroponics.”

“How long could the colonists last if they had those generators with them?” asks Dean.

Okoro scrunches up their nose while they think. “Just three water generators for that many people? And no food? I’d estimate about 10 days?”

“Well, it’s been at least nine already, assuming they all disappeared the same day as the distress call, so that’s not good,” points out Gupta.

“Healthy people can go a little longer than that without food, which all the colonists were before they vanished, so we probably have a little wiggle room of maybe an extra day or two. But yeah, definitely not a good thing,” they agree, taking a bite out of their Pop-Tart.

Tanaka comes in then, zeroing in on the coffee maker. “You telling them about the water generators?” she asks. “Because I just got off the comm with command and they were relieved that there’s still a chance that our people could be out there.”

“Yeah, but we don’t have much more time left, do we,” says Gupta. 

Benally’s annoying drawl joins in. “They’re not within driving distance, that’s for sure. I still think we should take the shuttle up and do a search.”

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Dean replies, “What would that achieve? We did a sensor sweep of the colony and the surrounding area when we first got here. It’s pretty unlikely that anything’s changed since then. Plus, we have limited fuel. We can’t be wasting it on something with a low chance of success.”

“So what do you suggest, then,” shoots back Benally. “Spend more time chatting with your memory-damaged robot?”

Tanaka takes a seat at Benally’s table, her doctored coffee between her hands. “Command also confirmed what I already suspected - that unit is not on the list of imprinted androids originally sent to the colony. And none of the colonists had that name, either.”

“Then he must be a blank canvas that a colonist uploaded to and changed their name for some reason,” Dean says. “Or he does have memory damage like he’s said he does and Castiel is the only name that came to him when he woke up.”

“Could be,” allows Tanaka. “But command did agree that it’s unreliable. Have you dismantled it yet to get a better look?”

Dean grits his teeth. “No, I haven’t. I can run the same kinds of scans with him operating normally as I can with him dismantled, so it seemed like a waste to pull him apart for no reason.”

Tanaka purses her lips. “Well, you may have no choice on that soon. Command is reviewing the data you sent on the destroyed units, and their leading hypothesis is that the androids destroyed each other after doing something to the colonists.”

“Sounds about right,” butts in Benally. “Though, maybe it was just the defective one we’re currently harboring aboard. Maybe it vaporized everyone and destroyed the other androids because it’s gone mental.”

Dean feels his face start to flush. “Then how did he get on the rig in the hangar where I first found him? Androids can’t do that by themselves, not on the industry-standard units.”

“Well, since you’re the only one who allegedly saw that, we’re just going to have to take your word on it, aren’t we? Not like you have any hidden agendas or biases.”

Gupta lays her hand down on Dean’s, probably trying to help ground him, but all Dean can focus on is the blood rushing in his ears. “Don’t believe me? Annette was there, too. She can corroborate what I’ve said.”

Benally snorts. “Right, like I’d take the word of one of those metal-heads.”

Dean opens his mouth to argue back (or more likely, to start cussing Benally out for being such a bigot), but Tanaka cuts him off before he has a chance.

“That’s enough, Winchester. The fact is, we don’t know what happened here, and that android is the only possible lead. In fact, yesterday I found mention of its name in the logs from the day before the distress call was activated. The data around its name was too degraded to understand the context, though. So, it is definitely still a prime suspect as far as I am concerned. You are to continue trying to restore that unit’s memory, and that is your only priority right now.”

“Of course, captain. If you don’t mind, I’ll just get to it, then,” Dean says, rising from the table and ignoring the sympathetic looks he catches Okoro and Gupta shooting his way.

The self-satisfied grin Benally directs toward him behind Tanaka’s back as he leaves makes Dean want to punch him. But Dean just marches his way toward his workshop instead, resolutely not intending to follow the order he’d just received for even a second.

Castiel is not the problem, of that he’s certain. So, it’s going to be up to him to figure out what really is, if only to see that stupid look get wiped off of Benally’s face.

\--

Later that afternoon finds him and Castiel hanging out in his workshop. Castiel is watching The Iron Giant for the second time in a row, and Dean gives up messing around with some scraps, which he was doing to keep his hands busy while his mind worked on his current predicament. Instead, he opens his pad and starts looking over the atmospheric radiation results Gupta collected for him last night. Annette is off helping Okoro follow up on some strange energy spikes a few kilometers away.

“Why were you gone for so long last night?”

Dean looks up from the pad. Castiel has paused the movie and is turned toward Dean. 

“You mean when I went to sleep?”

“Yes. Why does it take you so much longer to recharge than Annette or me?”

“It’s just the way it is. Believe me, if I could get by on less sleep, I totally would. Thankfully, I’m not as much of an insomniac as Gupta. But I wouldn’t mind having a few more hours a day to do things I like.”

“You were gone for almost seven hours. You are much less efficient at recharging than Annette, and even less efficient than me.”

Dean takes a second to comprehend that sentence. “Wait, what? What do you mean by ‘and even less efficient than me’?”

Castiel’s answer sounds irritated, like he can’t believe he has to repeat himself. “From my calculations and the few frustrating sentences I exchanged with Annette yesterday, it takes her approximately two hours to recharge fully. On the other hand, when I tested out the recharge pad this morning while you were gone, I estimated it would take me less than thirty minutes to recharge from complete depletion to fully recharged.”

“Uh,” says Dean dumbly. Because that’s not right. Castiel and Annette are from the same generation of androids, so they should have roughly the same specs and charge time. 

Before Dean can address that fact, though, Cas adds, “Also, I have a headache.”

This really throws Dean for a loop. “You what?”

“My head hurts. I believe you call it a headache.”

Dean puts his pad down and walks over to Castiel. “You do know that’s not possible, right?”

Castiel looks at him like he’s stupid. “And yet, I have a headache. I have since you found and reactivated me, but did not understand what the sensation meant until I watched Moon.”

“Moon, as in the movie with Sam Rockwell? Dang, that’s a heavy one.” Dean thinks for a moment. “Well, my initial scan a couple days ago said you are operating properly. And it doesn’t seem like you’ve been modified at all, so I don’t know how you have a headache.”

Castiel presses his lips together, unimpressed.

“And the second test from this morning verified your memory circuits are undamaged and intact, so I still have no idea why you’re registering things as incomplete.”

“I’m not lying.” Castiel sounds annoyed and Dean has to stifle a laugh.

“Of course you’re not. And what is the last thing you remember?”

Castiel’s frown grows. “As I’ve said before, fragments at most, blurs of sound and light.”

“Don’t get your panties in a twist,” says Dean. “I was just checking your short-term memory again. How about we try something different - run a diagnostic on yourself.”

“A what?”

“You know, a self-diagnostic? Check your systems?”

Castiel looks confused. “I...don’t know how to do that.”

Dean lets out a disbelieving laugh. “Good grief, that’s like the most basic of things you can do. Here, let me hook you up to my rig and we’ll have it initiate one for you. If it records something different from what my instruments have found, that might give us a new angle to work.”

He hooks Castiel up to his rig and waits for the diagnostics to start. Castiel resumes The Iron Giant, and Dean watches along while the rig does its thing.

The comm on the wall buzzes a few minutes later, starling both of them. Castiel pauses the movie and Dean walks over to press the button. “Yeah?”

Tanaka’s sharp voice comes through rapidfire. “We’ve finally cleaned up a large enough chunk of the logs to get an idea of what happened. The androids are responsible for the state of the colony and the disappearance of the colonists. They suddenly began attacking each other and kidnapping our people. You are to immediately cease efforts to recover the memory of the android you found and shut it down permanently. Then, dismantle it completely so we can determine why these androids went bad. Also, we don’t have a location lock on the colonists yet, but we anticipate having one soon. You need to ready several EMP weapons to knock out the remaining androids currently holding the colonists hostage.”

Dean stares at the comm in shock for a moment, then glances back at Castiel. His mouth is open and his eyes are wide, locked onto Dean. Connected as he is to Dean’s rig, it’s like he’s a fish trapped on a hook. The Iron Giant is still paused on the screen behind him, the little boy standing in the giant’s shadow, looking up at him with trust and affection, and that’s the final straw that decides it for Dean.

“Okay, I’ll shut him down,” Dean says over his shoulder at the comm, but shakes his head at Castiel, hoping he will understand. But Castiel doesn’t seem to get it, because he still looks scared, shrinking away from Dean when he stretches out his left hand to try to reassure him.

“Make sure to check the android we brought with us, too. It could have picked up some kind of virus from the one you brought back.”

“Roger that. Winchester out,” Dean says, still maintaining eye contact with Castiel. He releases the comm button with his right hand and brings it up next to his left, assuming the same non-threatening position he’d been in when he’d tried hooking Cas up to the rig the first time and he’d had such a strong negative reaction. “I’m not gonna shut you down, okay?”

Castiel’s uncertain eyes stay locked on his. “How do I know that I can trust you not to?”

Dean thinks for a moment. “Karen.”

“Karen?”

“Yeah, remember how important she was to Bobby? Well, she was practically a mother to me. Didn’t matter which version of her it was, she was important to me and I would never, ever shut her down. Because of her, I dedicated my life to working with androids, because if having her around could help make Bobby’s and my brother’s and my life happier, then I wanted to help do the same for others. And even though we don’t know each other all that well, you gotta know that I am not the sort of person who goes around shutting anyone down just because someone tells me to. You gotta believe me. I won’t hurt you.”

Castiel scrutinizes him for a long moment. Dean holds his breath. Finally, he says, “I believe you when you say you aren’t going to shut me down.”

“Oh, good.” Dean would start singing We Are the Champions if he thought it wouldn’t freak Castiel out any more than he probably was already. So instead, he just slowly lowers his hands. “And you gotta believe me when I say whatever happened out there, I don’t believe you voluntarily had anything to do with it, if you were even involved at all.”

Castiel doesn’t shrink away when Dean steps toward him this time. So Dean continues with, “We’re gonna need to be careful, though. You definitely won’t be able to leave this room now and if anyone comes in, which is unlikely, but if someone does, then you’ll have to play dead.”

“But your captain said to dismantle me. Won’t she be suspicious if I remain intact?”

“Good point.” Dean glances around the workshop, then his gaze catches on the crate holding Kirk’s remains. “And I think I have the answer.”

He walks over and starts pulling pieces out and setting them on the table in the center of his workshop, saying as he works, “None of them know androids like I do, and most of them won’t be able to tell you apart from any other unit. Time to use their bigotry against them.” Dean adds Kirk’s head to the pile. “There, one dismantled android ready in case someone comes looking. Now, we need a hiding spot for you.”

Dean spends the next ten minutes clearing a spot behind the rig. “There aren’t any windows in here, so the only way anyone can spot you is if they come through the door. I promise to spend as much time as possible in here from now on, I’ll even sleep here, and when I need to grab food or hit the head, I will lock the door behind me. Tanaka does have the door code, though, so when you hear it being entered, always hide in case it isn’t me returning.” Dean hefts a couple of boxes over to fill the access hole beside the hiding place behind the rig. “And you can pull these into place once you’re back there, which should keep anyone from finding you if they decide to snoop around. From here it just looks like the entire back there is full of boxes.”

Breathing a little heavier than usual, Dean comes back around to the front of the rig and sits down on the stool he’d been sitting on before the comm had buzzed. He looks up at Castiel, who he is happy to note seems less worried than he’d been a little over ten minutes ago.

“Only thing we need to figure out now is how to keep you out of sight when Annette is around. Can’t have her slipping up and mentioning you hanging out in here if I’ve told them all that you’re scrap metal.” Dean scratches his cheek. “I can probably find stuff for her to take care of around the ship, or loan her out to Okoro or Gupta for the time being. She’ll might have to come in here to charge if she’s being more active than usual, but she probably has at least another two days before she needs to do that. Hate that I have to lie to her, but a white lie here and there isn’t the worst thing I’ve ever done.”

Dean stops talking, realizing he’s been narrating his inner monologue mostly non-stop. Normally he’d feel embarrassed, but for some reason, around Castiel he isn’t as self-conscious as usual.

Castiel searches Dean’s face for a long moment, then he finally says, “Dean?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you. For disobeying your orders. And for not shutting me down.”

Dean flashes Castiel a smile. “Anytime, Cas.”

  
  
  
  



	5. Chapter 5

Dean immediately moves his bed roll into his workshop and only leaves for food and the bathroom. His new sleeping arrangement doesn’t go unnoticed, but he easily explains it off as he’s working around the clock to get the EMP weapons ready. Benally had shot him a look laden with suspicion at his explanation, but Tanaka had mostly applauded Dean’s initiative.

When she asked for a timeline on the weapons, he’d said 24 hours just to keep her happy.

“Not like they even know where they’re going to be firing these things yet,” Dean says under his breath later, back in his workshop. Benally had gotten one of the drones operational (without Dean’s help, so it took him twice as long as it would have taken Dean), and had searched beyond where the terraforming equipment could go. Still nothing.

“And you know what, if they suspected you guys all along, it’s sort of stupid that they didn’t think to pack assembled EMP weapons in case,” mutters Dean as he solders yet another wire.

Cas doesn’t answer back, completely enraptured by his latest selection, Bicentennial Man. Dean had tried to get him to watch Alien (“Come on, it’s a classic”) and then Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (“It’s not the most faithful adaptation, sure, but the source material is too awesome to pass it up”), but Cas had insisted on his own picks. Initially, Dean had been disappointed about not watching Hitchhiker’s Guide, but then realized that maybe it was better if Cas wasn’t asking all kinds of questions about the necessity of a towel.

Dean takes a break for a moment, stretching his arms over his head and leaning back on the stool. Bobby had always yelled at him for staying stooped over his workbench for too long, claiming it would give him a hunchback. Dean had of course completely disregarded Bobby’s advice, but lately he had been feeling a little less spry. Not that he’d ever admit to that. And especially never to Sam.

Robin Williams is on screen when Dean glances up, and he has to stifle a laugh at what passed for special effects and makeup in the late 1990s. At the time, androids were all metallic and smooth and streamlined. But that style had gone the way of the dinosaurs a long time ago. Realism was where it was at now, no little antennas or silver paint, no, artists had been who engineers teamed up with to get the right skin details, the correct eye pigmentation. A lot of artists nowadays made a killing, with wig-makers pretty close behind.

Still, there was something sort of innocent and wide-eyed about the portrayal of androids as metallic automatons. Silly even, but you would absolutely have to pry C-3PO and R2-D2 from Dean’s cold dead hands. 

Dean looks over at Cas fondly. “You know what else?” he says softly. “I’ve been thinking about this a lot the last couple of days, and I think maybe you’re some kind of evolutionary leap forward. I mean, there’s been all kinds of hypotheses about androids gaining true sentience, hell, even a soul given enough time. But you’re the first android I’ve ever met who actually seems to fit that ideal.

“Annette is a blank canvas, so comparing you two would be like comparing apples and oranges, and I won’t even try besides the whole charging difference issue.. But I’ve never met an imprint that’s as curious and inquisitive as you are, as, fuck, I don’t know, alive. Not even close. And the way you think, it’s more than just you using your innate intelligence or experience to consider the situation. Which, I suppose is really what thinking is, but for some reason, I just get this sense that you’re more.”

Dean doesn’t realize that Cas has actually been listening to him until he turns toward Dean and asks pointedly, “So, am I human, then?”

“Maybe,” Dean allows, then shrugs. “I mean, I’m not really that good at biology, practically failed it in high school, but maybe you’ve experienced the electronic equivalent of a DNA mutation. And maybe that’s why you can’t get to your memories anymore. Because in order for you to become this new being, you had to let go of the old self.”

Cas looks away and then back at Dean. “Do you think maybe that’s what happened with the other androids here? They developed humanity and then, upon realizing that so many humans perceived them negatively, decided to take action before they were harmed themselves for not behaving within the parameters set by their creators?”

A slight chill runs up Dean’s spine. 

Cas continues speaking. “And wouldn’t it be a pretty terrible thing to be making weapons to kill such beings that only had the misfortune of becoming more like you?”

Then Cas blinks long and slow, holds Dean’s gaze, and turns back toward the screen.

They don’t say anything more for a while after that and Dean decides to take a break from the EMP devices in favor of watching Cas’ movies with him.

\--

They’re two movies past Bicentennial Man, and Dean is trying to explain why knowing the correct order to watch the Star Wars movies in is so important, when the door buzzer goes off. 

“Be there in just a second!” Dean hollers as Cas quickly hides in his spot. 

Dean looks over his shoulder one more time at the rig to be sure Cas isn’t visible, and then opens the door. 

Okoro is on the other side, their chest heaving as if they’ve run at a full-on sprint across the colony. And judging from the streaks of dust in their hair and across their sweat-drenched shirt, that’s probably not far from the truth. 

“Comms are out,” they gasp. “Just like what happened to the colony. Tanaka thinks we’re about to be attacked.”

Dean’s eyes widen. He starts to ask a question, but Okoro waves him off.

“Gupta and Benally were checking a crater to the east. Annette was with them. Before communications were knocked out, they managed to get a location on the androids and the colonists. They sent us the coordinates and then went radio silent. Tanaka says to prepare for probable incursion. Do you have any EMP weapons ready?”

“No, I thought I had more time.”

Okoro nods once. “I will inform Takana of the situation. She says to lock things down and prepare any weapons you can make or find. Good luck, Dean.”

And with that, Okoro dashes off before Dean can tell them the same.

  
  


\--

Things happen very quickly from there. 

Dean locks the door and Cas helps him move the metal table from the middle of the room to barricade them in. Dean knows it won’t do much against the strength of the average android, let alone the strength of the ones he built to survive colony life, but there isn’t much else to do. Cas even hands over the boxes of stuff he’d been hiding behind moments ago, and they pile them on top of the table.

Then they’re left looking at the pieces of the EMP weapons Dean dumped on the deckplates in his hurry to get the table in front of the door.

Cas picks up one of the circuit boards and offers it to Dean. “I know what I said before. But I don’t want you to die, either. And I don’t think I will be strong enough to stop the other androids should they enter and try to harm you.”

Dean grimaces. “Yeah, well, you made a compelling point earlier. I’m not so sure that androids, especially ones that have become as human as you are, should be killed because they decided to self-advocate. A lot of humans have treated androids like shit, and you are right to be angry. Plus, what right do I have to kill anyone? Even if you weren’t more human than the average android, I still don’t like the idea of hurting you guys.”

“Preservation of life is important, yes, so please, save your own life. Make the EMP weapon,” Cas insists, pressing the circuit board into Dean’s hand.

“I can’t, though. We still don’t even know if the androids have hurt anyone. For all we know, they’re just holding the colonists hostage in order to bargain for their freedom.”

“Dean,” says Cas insistently. “You have to do this.”

“I’m not going to do it,” says Dean, dropping the circuit board and walking around Cas to sit at the base of his rig. “And that’s final.”

“Even to save the lives of your crew, your fellow humans?”

“Not at the expense of you and the other androids. I told you before that I wouldn’t shut you off, so I sure as hell am not going to kill you with an EMP.”

Cas comes over and crouches down in front of Dean. “But why not? We’re just the minds of people who have already lived their lives and died contained within metal and electricity. What right do we have to end the lives of those who have yet to finish their own lives?”

Dean huffs out a laugh. “You’re seriously arguing to die? The probably completely sentient android is trying to get me to kill it. What the fuck is even happening right now.”

Cas looks momentarily confused, as if hearing his own argument for the first time. Then he shakes his head and grabs Dean’s hands with his own. “No, no. Dean, you mustn’t die. This I know to be the truth. Your life is important to me. I would rather die myself than see you expire.”

“If I killed you, it would be like I was killing Karen. I won’t do that. Don’t ask me again.”

Cas sits down on the deckplate and just looks at Dean for a long moment, his brow furrowed.

Dean smiles sadly and leans back against his rig, tilting his head back. 

They stay that way for long minutes, until Dean finally breaks the silence, trying to go for a bit of levity. “By the way, how’s your head?”

“It still hurts.”

Dean looks over at Cas. “Do you mind if I check your chest panel? We’ve been over your head a ton of times, so maybe we missed something elsewhere.”

“You want to try to solve my headaches at a time like this?”

“Not like there’s anything else to do, right? Here, hop up on the bench so I can get a better look.”

Cas does as he’s told, pulling up the shirt Dean loaned him yesterday. Not that Dean had minded Cas walking around topless, but Cas had asked for a uniform like Dean’s, so he’d given him one of his spares.

Dean presses the patch of artificial skin covering the access panel opening on Cas’ ribs and it springs open.

“Okay, well everything looks intact, practically brand new.” Dean reaches over and grabs a flashlight from his tool tray. “In fact, some of your servos have been replaced. You remember that happening?”

Cas looks down at Dean. “No.”

“Huh, I wonder…” And then Dean trails off, fixated on the plate on the left side of Cas’ chest. He reads and rereads the text there several times, confusion growing.

“What is it, Dean?”

Dean takes a step back and swallows. “Uh, Cas?”

“Yes?”

“That is your name, Castiel, yes?”

Cas frowns. “Yes. Why are you asking like that?”

“Because your name plate. It doesn’t say Cas. It says ‘Jimmy’.”

Cas looks down at his chest as if he has x-ray vision and can see through the artificial skin. “That is not possible. My name is Castiel. That is the one thing I am certain of.”

“Then why--” Dean cuts himself off and sits down on his stool to think. “Does the name Jimmy mean anything to you?”

“Jimmy?” Cas repeats, then his face abruptly goes blank, as if his entire system is resetting.

“Cas?” 

Cas’ eyes suddenly slam shut and he starts to shake, like he’s having a seizure. 

Dean quickly grabs Cas’ shoulders and holds them down to keep him from vibrating off of the bench. “Cas? Cas!”

Cas continues shaking for almost a solid minute and Dean is overcome with terror. He’s never seen an android react like this, not at Bobby’s shop, not at NASA’s facilities. And despite his efforts, Cas is still slamming down onto the table hard, his android strength easily overpowering Dean’s attempts to stabilize him.

And then all at once, Cas goes completely still. Dean can hear his own harsh breath in the silence, the moment stretching on and on as he waits for a sign of life from his friend. 

Then Cas’s eyes open again and he blinks at Dean several times. 

“Cas?” Dean tries, tentatively.

“Hello, Dean. I apologize for the commotion.”

Dean huffs a nervous laugh. “You apologize for the commotion? Fuck, Cas, you scared me. Are you okay?”

“Yes, I am well again. I now understand why my memories have been inaccessible.” 

“You do?”

“Yes. My name is indeed Castiel, but I am not an android. I am an alien.”

Dean’s jaw drops. “You’re a what?”

“An alien. Jimmy, the consciousness of this body, has been sharing this vessel with me. The headaches I’ve been experiencing have been from inadvertently keeping his thought waves suppressed. But in doing so, I lost access to the memories we shared of him agreeing to the union in order to allow me to communicate with the colonists.”

Trying to wrap his head around that, Dean steps back. Like he’d told Cas earlier, sometimes families that couldn’t afford an un-imprinted android would try to upload a second or even third consciousness into the system. It always overloaded the memory and destroyed the android. So, there was a chance that Cas was another human consciousness overloading Jimmy’s, but he should be catatonic by now, not so articulate and expressive. Dean had never seen anything like it before. 

Cas continues on as if Dean is not currently experiencing a brain reset of his own. “I finally remember what happened before you found me. I was sent to learn about your ways, to assess you. I was talking to one of your colonists, Achak, I believe was his name, when some of the other of my brethren who had also occupied your androids began attacking other androids occupied by my brethren.” He looks over at Kirk’s body. “That android was occupied by Anna, and she was trying to convince me that our brethren’s plan to kidnap your kind and interrogate you was wrong. The others must have heard her speaking to me and determined she had other sympathizers, so they decided to eradicate her.” 

Dean just stares at Cas, “I’m an alien” playing on repeat in his head. 

“Achak must have ascertained that I was undecided in the conflict, because he took me to that room you found me in and told me to step on the rig, telling me it would keep me in stasis for the time being. I did so, and he promised to lock and barricade the door behind himself. That is my last memory before you found me.”

All the little ticks that Cas had came rushing at Dean, like the way he didn’t respond to prompts like an android would, or how he didn’t know how to perform a simple system scan, one of the most basic of android functions. Something about Cas had been bugging Dean over the last week, and although him being the next step in an android evolution was also a good guess at what was going on, in the end there was only one explanation, one possible answer to all of his questions.

“Holy shit,” says Dean in awe. “You’re an alien.”

  
  



	6. Chapter 6

There’s the sound of shrieking metal from far away and Dean looks away from Cas and toward the door. The sound reverberates throughout the shuttle and Dean turns back to Cas, adrenaline already making his heart pound in his ears.

“They are here,” Cas says unnecessarily, standing up and closing his chest panel, then pulling his shirt back over his stomach.

Dean swallows hard. “What do we do?”

“An EMP will not disable my brethren.”

“Okay, any idea what will?”

Cas nods. “My species are pure energy. It’s why we cannot interact with you on your plane of existence and why we had to use the android bodies. In fact, I was one of the first to approach the colonists. We’d become curious - you’d ventured from your planet to another and a threat assessment had to be made.”

“Threat assessment?” asks Dean, incredulously. “You said we exist on different planes of existence. How could we hurt you?”

“As I am about to show you, there are ways to eject us from the android bodies we are now possessing and send us far away. That, and we determined that we needed the permission of the androids we were inhabiting prior to possession. Now that you are aware of our existence, you can inform the rest of your species and your androids to not allow us access anymore in order to protect yourselves. Also, you will have the knowledge of how to defeat us, which I will give to you now.”

“Wait, why did you need permission from the androids?”

“As much as some of your kind do not believe androids are capable of sentience, I can tell you that they are. And their control over their corporeal forms is ironclad. Only their acquiescence can allow consciousness sharing.”

Dean nods. “That makes sense. But why wouldn’t an EMP stop the android bodies and leave you stuck without a vessel to work?”

“The same energy we are composed of is partially powering the androids. It’s why I didn’t have to return to the hub to recharge as frequently as Annette. I know you were confused by that.”

With a disbelieving huff, Dean sits down onto his stool. “I knew that seemed off, but I was so sure it meant that you’d evolved into a higher form of android.”

Cas gives Dean a small smile. “They’re already there, Dean. You were right in believing the androids are equals to humans. All that makes up a person is contained within their thoughts and memories. You have truly figured out how to be immortal.”

Dean sighs. “Wish that made me feel better. So, how do we eject your people from the androids and save the colonists and my crewmates?”

“You will need to produce an energy wave that will cause destructive interference. I can provide you with the necessary wavelength.”

Dean frowns. “That makes sense. But, Cas, how will you maintain your tether on Jimmy if we do that? The colonists have to be fairly far away if we didn’t find them sooner, and since we’re stuck in here, there’s no way I can both create the waveform and protect you from it.”

“I know. And I am prepared to vacate this body. Besides, my people will know I gave you the knowledge necessary to eject them, so it is for the best if I am as far away as possible from you when you eject them as well so that I can have time to escape. In fact, we should test it on me before you go to ensure everything works properly. This will also allow me time to escape. 

“No, we’re not doing that.”

Cas cocks his head. “It’s the only way to ensure you can rescue your people without there being any unnecessary injury or death. My people see yours as a threat, and given the amount of time since they vanished, they do not have very long before my people begin executing yours. I believe they were only permitted to live this long because my people were trying to ascertain your technological prowess. Remember, that was part of why I was sent here in the first place - to infiltrate and report. When I did not report back, it was assumed that I had been neutralized.”

“But Cas, you chose to help us, you saw that we were worth keeping around.”

“I saw your intrinsic value to the universe, yes.” Cas drops his gaze. “But I didn’t realize your true value until I met you.”

Dean steps into Cas’ personal space then. Cas looks up at Dean and their gazes lock. “I won’t let you go,” Dean says softly. “I don’t want you to leave me.”

Cas reaches up and touches Dean’s cheek gently. “And I don’t want to go. But I must to save your people, android and human. It’s the right thing to do.”

“Well, maybe I don’t want to do the right thing.”

Cas chuckles quietly. “Yes you do, Dean. You are the kindest and most caring human I have met.”

“Clearly you need to get out more,” Dean quips, trying and then failing not to lean into Cas’ touch. 

“You have to do this. We have to do this.”

Dean swallows, looks into Cas’ eyes for a long moment. “Ok,” he breathes out. “But I’m going to need your help.”

It takes less than five minutes for them to build the wave generator together. The terrible metal on metal noises are getting closer, and Dean thinks he hears a muffled scream at one point, but it’s cut off too quickly for him to be sure.

When it’s finally ready, Cas inputs the wave frequency while Dean watches in trepidation.

“You don’t have to do this, you know,” Dean pleads. “I could find a way to get you to one of the colony’s escape pods and you could get far enough away that the blast won’t affect you. Then we’ll come find you.”

Cas smiles sadly. “Even if you could somehow get me out of this room and to the hangar, my brethren would find me before you could and pull me from Jimmy. Besides, it’s not fair to Jimmy to continue occupying his body. You wouldn’t want me to be a body-snatcher, now would you, Dean?”

Dean shakes his head. “No, but I don’t want you to go, either.”

Cas hands Dean the wave generator. “I will always treasure the time I was allowed to spend with you, Dean. It was the best of my life.”

“Yeah. Well, I, uh, I had a good time, too.” Dean tries to keep his voice even, but has to pretend to inspect the wave generator to keep from looking up at Cas again.

Cas’ hand covers his on the top of the device, squeezes a little. “It’s time, Dean.”

Dean looks up then. Cas’ face is set in determination, and he steps back. Dean raises the wave generator, points it at Cas.

“Goodbye, Dean.”

Dean feels his throat closing up, but manages, “Bye, Cas.”

And fires.

  
  
  
  



	7. Chapter 7

_Seven months later_

Dean closes the access panel on the android’s chest and steps back to look at his masterpiece. It’s easily the most advanced android he’s ever seen, let alone made, and the few times Bobby had video called, he’d gone hog wild over the specs Dean had shared.

Dean picks up a rag on the nearby bench and carefully wipes the gel off of his fingers. Today’s a special day, no sense looking sloppy.

His doorbell rings. Dean drops the rag back onto the bench and breathes out a nervous breath. It’s time.

Sam is on the other side, as expected. 

“Heya, Sammy.”

“Dean,” Sam says warmly, then steps forward to engulf Dean in a bear hug.

From there, Dean shows Sam back to his workshop, eyeing the hexagonal metal container Sam is carrying with a mix of trepidation and excitement.

“So, no trouble getting here?”

Sam grimaces as he sets the container down onto the table next to the android’s head. “There were some protests outside the Capitol building, but my security team is good, so that didn’t slow us down any. Of course, had they known about my cargo, they might have been a little more aggressive.”

In the seven months since the ‘Arcadia Incident’, as the press had dubbed things, there had been a flurry of activity worldwide. There was indeed life out in the universe, and it was hostile. Fortunately, no lives had been lost, thanks to Cas and his sacrifice. But that didn’t stop people from panicking. Some had destroyed their androids out of fear of them becoming possessed by Cas’ people, despite being told that the androids had to give permission. And the most suspicious, who already had reason to hate and fear androids, had gone on a crime spree. Nearly two hundred androids had been attacked and destroyed, many in broad daylight, before android owners had started to keep their units mostly indoors for the time being.

The entire rescue team had been called in to testify before Congress as to the threat the aliens offered. Dean, because he had had the most contact with the aliens, had spent nearly a week being debriefed and grilled after they’d returned to Earth before he’d been begrudgingly released. Jimmy had also testified, corroborating Cas’ story completely before he was allowed to return to his family.

NASA had been happy to have Dean back, wanting his knowledge on how to protect their electronics from any further interference from Cas’ people. In the first two months after his return to Earth, Dean had developed an energy shield that would prevent Cas’ people from coming into a room. Two months after that, he’d miniaturized the shields, and now all government buildings and top-secret facilities were protected. Commercial versions were sure to follow soon, but Dean had had other things to focus on. Namely, the contents of the container sitting on his table.

Sam follows his gaze and smiles. “He confirmed your shielding devices would keep him safe.”

“Yeah, well, he won’t always be in buildings with one. So I added one to the new body. Basically will lock him into it forever so long as it’s running. But it will also keep anyone from pulling him out against his will.”

Sam looks down at the android. “Wow, I can see why Bobby couldn’t shut up about this thing. Even I can tell you outdid yourself on this one.”

Dean shrugs. “Did what I could.”

Sam rolls his eyes. “Yeah, it’s only the most advanced android to exist. Only the best for your boyfriend, though, huh?”

Dean can feel the blush starting to move into his cheeks. “Shut up. We doin’ this or what?”

“You’re not even going to offer me a beer first?”

“You can get a beer yourself,” snarks Dean. “In fact, go get one now.”

Sam must sense Dean’s desire for privacy, because he heads toward the kitchen without additional comment. 

Sam pauses on the threshold, though. “I don’t know how much of the original report you were given clearance to read, but his only condition for asylum was that he got to spend it with you. Well, that and that the android he borrowed to make the request, Claire, I think her name was, be allowed her freedom.” And then he continues through the doorway and off onto the other side of the house to undoubtedly steal all of Dean’s best beer.

Dean watches him go for a moment, silently thanking the universe that his brother is high enough in the government that they’d allow him to personally handle the delivery so that he can have this moment to himself.

With fingers he’d never admit are trembling slightly, Dean flips the releases on either side of the container and gently lifts the lid. A glow fills the room, intensifying as Dean removes the lid completely. 

Dean sets it aside and waits with bated breath, not daring to lean forward to peer inside the container, waiting, waiting.

HIs patience is rewarded a moment later when the glow intensifies and a cloud of self-illuminating particles floats up. It seems to freeze as it gets a couple of inches above the container’s opening, and Dean isn’t sure if it is capable of staring, but it feels like it’s staring at him. Or maybe it’s staring at the opposite wall, there’s no way of knowing. But Dean feels like in his bones that it is looking at him.

With a nod toward the android body on the table, Dean asks, “Well, is it good enough?”

The blob of particles moves over toward it, hovering first over the head, then moving down the body. It bobs back and forth, almost like it’s checking the body out from different angles, and Dean wants to laugh at how adorable the moment is. But instead, he stays silent as he waits for the verdict.

The outside appearance is almost a replica of Jimmy’s. Dean couldn’t say why he did it that way, just that it had felt right. He’d of course checked with Jimmy first, though, to make sure it was okay.

The cloud doesn’t leave him hanging for long. It leaves the body and comes over to Dean, swirling around him and leaving Dean with a warm feeling in his chest. 

“It passes muster, then?” The cloud swirls around him faster. “Okay, then, why don’t you hop on in?”

The cloud zigzags in front of his face for another moment, then goes back over to the android body. It pours into the open mouth, and Dean kinda misses the happy glow as it disappears from the room.

Now he does lean over, worry battling with anticipation. The android is silent for long moments, and even though Dean’s never seen this happen before, he still feels like something should be happening. Anything, really.

And then the android’s eyes fly open. They look up at the ceiling for a moment, then slowly shift over toward Dean. A smile slowly grows on the android’s face, and Dean feels an answering smile appear on his own.

“Hello, Dean.”

“Hey, Cas. Good to see you again.”

\--

The End

A/N: And that's it! Thank you so much for reading this far and I hope you enjoyed! ♡ -zaffre


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